Farm Fresh Chicken Coop...Market?

Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe

Remember the Ice Truck?

This scene from the 1940s-50s shows a common sight on streets in Florida; the ice company's trucks making their rounds delivering huge blocks of ice to homes and businesses. Before air conditioning and efficient refrigeration, Floridians depended on ice to keep food and beverages cold and fresh. Florida's fishing industry absolutely depended on ice to keep their catch fresh long enough to get it to a restaurant or ship it out of town or state.(Ice companies were a very profitable business and to visit one and feel the cold air behind the giant plastic curtains on a sweltering day was heaven, a quick trip to Alaska.) Early Frigidaires - which is all my mom and grandmother ever called their "ice boxes," used motors and fans to blow the room's hot air into and past the ice blocks and circulated it down and around food stored in the "ice box." It worked pretty well, but you still looked forward to visiting the big movie theaters, cafeterias such as Morrison's and some fancy department store like Maas Brothers for real air conditioning. Heck, I can remember going to one drive-in theater that offered air conditioning that attached to your car window along with the speaker. Pretty cool, eh? Most cars did not have A/C so that and buttery popcorn were the big draws...oh, and your steady girl to share the experience with.

This mural is another portion of one I posted yesterday of West Tampa's Main Street. The West Tampa Revitalization Corporation commissioned the mural in 1984. It is BIG. It covers two entire exterior walls of the recreation building at the Rey Park Center and Playground on North Howard Avenue.

In its heyday: Main Street in West Tampa

The West Tampa Revitalization Corporation commissioned this mural in 1984. It was painted by Carl Cowden and repainted in 2001 by Marie Crescenzi. It covers two entire exterior walls of a recreation building at the Rey Park Center and Playground on North Howard Avenue. It's quite detailed in capturing people and places in West Tampa's past and present. This scene is very likely a composite created by the artist using several photographs taken over the years. It includes a trolley, which no longer runs down Main Street. My guess is the car in the center is a 1950s Packard, but the vegetable truck on the bottom left is 1920s vintage. Moses White Bar-B-Q, the only retail sign that's visible in this section of the mural, was located in West Tampa from 1977 until it moved to Ybor City's 7th Avenue in 1987.

West Tampa mural in Salcines Park

The mural reads, "It's Time For West Tampa," and depicts the history of this important part of Tampa which began as a separate and distinct city all of its own. Painted in the 1980s, the mural is partly obscured by trees which makes it near impossible to shoot without including branches or shadows in the photo. Located in Salcines Park (in honor of West Tampa native Judge E. J. Salcines) at the corner of Howard Avenue and Main Street in West Tampa. The park offers a shaded corner and benches and tables for checkers, a favorite pastime. Note that the entire mural is outlined with dominoes and the two gentlemen on the bottom right appear to be at a table playing checkers. Several local businesses are featured on the buildings that were painted. The City of Tampa website lists the mural artists as Chon Mosley and Project Link.

Painting to Music and Dance: West Tampa mural is bright and alive!

This mural wraps around two sides of an older brick building that was probably at one time a retail store in this West Tampa neighborhood. My guess is that students of a local school painted it and added classical columns and a stairway against a hillside...something they did not take from their flat Florida surroundings. From the left, musicians play the cello and bass as dancers perform in the middle of the mural. An older, bearded gentleman, wearing a jaunty French beret, paints at his easel on the right. His subject? The dancers.

Vintage Lofts at West End are helping to transform a historic neighborhood

The Vintage Lofts at West End provide a good subject to shoot in black and white. Standing rather alone against the sky and incorporating a number of different architectural elements, materials and textures in its construction, I thought the varying shades of black, white and gray would work well in this portrait of the building. The Lofts are relatively new to this area north of Kennedy Boulevard. Located at North Rome and West Cypress street, they are a welcome addition to this West Tampa neighborhood that lies west of Boulevard and south of the interstate. It's been slumbering for several years after over a century of families living and working in businesses, warehouses, churches and homes. Now, there are so many new and attractive apartments and condominium developments it's hard to believe. Although the apartment residents might feel a bit like pioneers, they are in fact about a five minute walk to Tampa's newest Starbucks and a five minute drive to downtown. But, right now, The Vintage Lofts, which is loaded with style and every conceivable luxury-lifestyle amentity, is playing a big part in the transformation of the neighborhood, raising its profile and making it one of the next best places to live.

Mural celebrates Tampa's Diversity - Kaleidoscope: A Heritage of Color

Macfarlane Park Mural Celebrates West Tampa Pioneers

Tampa, FL November 1, 2007 - Citizens and community leaders will join Mayor Pam Iorio to unveil a new mural at Macfarlane Park in West Tampa. The event will take place on Monday, November 5, 2007 at 2 p.m. The mural, titled Kaleidoscope: a Heritage of Color, can be found at the south end of the park. Macfarlane Park is located at 1801 North Lincoln Avenue, Tampa. Local artists Edgar Sanchez Cumbas and Guillermo Portieles were selected as the team to create the West Tampa mural through a national call to artists. The mural was commissioned by the City of Tampa Public Art Program, in celebration of Arte 2007. In their initial concept, Cumbas and Portieles wanted to represent the hard working individuals in West Tampa “who embraced a thriving a social and cultural community through its broad mix of nationalities and religions.” From this concept and through much input from community leaders and historians, Kaleidoscope: a Heritage of Color was created. Individuals depicted in the mural include: Robert “Bob” Saunders, civil rights activist, NAACP Florida director (late 1950s – mid 1960s); Luisa Capetillo, women’s rights activist (early 1900s); José Martí, leader of Cuban independence from Spain, poet and writer (late 1800s); Hugh Macfarlane, Scottish immigrant and attorney, founded West Tampa (1892); and Fernando Figueredo, first Mayor of West Tampa, (1895).

For additional information, please contact Art Programs Manager Robin Nigh at (813) 274-8531 or robin.nigh@tampagov.net.